Tracking the COVID-19 vaccine equity, distribution, and cases in the global south

Abstract

AbstractThe rapid development of vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has proved to make an important contribution in reducing both viral transmission and disease burden. In this study, we tracked the COVID-19 vaccine equity, distribution, and cases in global south countries using country-level data from Our World in Data using an event study analysis. We used data from 149 global south and 59 non-global south countries from January 2020 to May 2022. All non-global south and 90.32% of global south countries had universal availability of vaccines. The median time since the introduction of the first COVID-19 vaccine in the global south was almost eight weeks later than in non-global south countries. The median number of people fully vaccinated per hundred (68.8 vs 50.31), and the total number of boosters administered per hundred (45.7 vs. 13.02) were higher in non-global south countries compared to global south countries. Using the event study analysis, we found a significant reduction of COVID-19 new cases and deaths after the first COVID-19 vaccination rollout compared to the baseline in global south countries, average coefficient p-value <0.001. Programs aiming at improving vaccine access and distribution to global south countries are essential to effectively control COVID-19.